Food, energy security to get priority at D-8 council of ministers’ talks

Food and energy security will take precedence at the 20th session of the Council of Ministers of D-8, also known as Developing-8, to be hosted by Bangladesh on 27 July.

While briefing the media on Sunday, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen said the member states will also focus on trade, agriculture, industrial cooperation, communication, and tourism at the meeting.

"We are giving much importance to food security and it will be discussed extensively. We would like to share our expertise with other friends. There is much scope for cooperation," he said.

On energy security, Momen said it has become a hot topic globally. "We must ensure energy security. It will be discussed."

Though some of the D-8 countries showed maturity in the tourism sector, Bangladesh has scope to do more and gain through cooperation, the minister said.

"We will discuss how the trade among D-8 countries can be expanded further," he said, adding that the intra-trade is likely to be boosted through proper implementation of the D-8 Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA).

The PTA, signed on 13 May 2006 in Bali of Indonesia, is regarded as one of the most tangible outcomes of D-8 cooperation in trade.

The agreement has been a manifestation of the mutual desire to deepen trade relations among the member states and marked the beginning of economic dialogue at a higher level.

The PTA, after many rounds of discussions and multilateral negotiations, became effective on 25th August 2011.

"We have about $10 billion of trade with the D-8 countries and we want to expand it further," said Momen.

"Trade among the member states has also increased a lot. When the D-8 started, there was only $14 billion in trade, which now stands at around $130 billion," he said.

The foreign minister said the D-8 meeting will decide Azerbaijan's membership.

"No decision has been taken so far regarding any sideline meeting with the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of Pakistan or with ministers of other countries," he said.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to inaugurate the meeting virtually, Momen said.

Bangladesh will also host the 45th session of the D-8 Commission from 25 to 26 July.

The D-8 is an organisation for development cooperation among Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey.

The establishment of D-8 was announced officially through the Istanbul Declaration of Summit of Heads of State/Government on 15 June 1997.

The idea of cooperation among Muslim majority developing countries was mooted by Professor Necmettin Erbakan, the then prime minister of the Republic of Turkiye, during a seminar on "Cooperation in Development" which was held in Istanbul in October 1996.

The objectives of the D-8 Organisation for Economic Cooperation are to improve member states' position in the global economy, diversify and create new opportunities in trade relations, enhance participation in decision-making at the international level, and improve standards of living.